Buffing wheel



Nov. 24, 1953 l H. E. LARSEN 2,660,010

BUFF ING WHEEL Filed Sept. 18, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l H. E. LARSEN BUFFING WHEEL Nov. 24, 1953 2 sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 18, 1952 Patented Nov. 24, 1953 BUFFING WHEEL Harvey E. Larsen, Steger, 111.,.assignor to Steger Products Manufacturing Corporation, Steger, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application September 18, 1952, Serial No. 310,323

2 Claims. (Cl. 51-197) This invention relates to buing or abrading wheels, and more particularly, to an improved buiiing wheel adapted for use in the machineoperated cloth-bufng of suitably pre-treated woodwork or furniture to impart thereto a lustrous finish.

Although the instant invention will be described in detail in connection with a preferred use therefor, namely, the buiiing of pre-treated woodworkl and the like, it will be appreciated that the instant bufng or abrading wheel may be used in many other similar operations. In the preparation of woodwork or furniture such as television cabinets, for example, the cabinet is fabricated of suitable wood and is usually then treated by the application of a lacquer coating or iinish. The surface is usually also wetsanded to remove roughness and irregularities of a coarse nature. Then, the surface is buffed to impart thereto the desired lustre.

Heretofore, it has been necessary generally to carry out the bufdng operation by hand, because machine bufling resulted almost invariably in burning the finish and even the wood, by reason of the harsh action of the machine. Machine bufiing, usually by means of a rotary rubbing motion of a suitably supported buffng cloth urging an abrasive rubbing compound against the surface to be buried, is relatively inflexible to the extent that the machine cannot sense overheating at the bufng surface. Accordingly, such cabinet buflingA operations as were necessary were carried out by hand, using the usual pumice' bufng, because over-heating or burning almost invariably resulted using those available buing or rubbing compounds and the available buiiing wheel assemblies.

The instant invention relates to a cloth-hurting wheel powered for rotary motion, which is adapted for use in a machine-operated clothbufng operation. Such a buihng Wheel involves a suitable supporting structure or head having mounted on a circular face thereof, one or a .plurality of layers of suitable resilient material,

Manual bufilng, of

such as sponge rubber. A bufng surface cloth is wrapped over the layer and resiliently supported thereby. Preferably, a sheep-skin is interposed between the cloth and the resilient layer.

It is, therefore, an important object of the instant invention to provide an improved clothbuinng wheel structure.

It is a further object of the instant invention to provide an improved buing wheel comprising a generally circular buiiing wheel head, a resilient pad mounted on a face of said head, and a builng surface cloth covering said pad and resiliently supported thereby.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide an improved bufng wheel comprising a bulng head adapted to threadedly engage a drive shaft forco-rotation therewith and having grooves cut in a face thereof, a sheep-skin overlying said face and secured to said head, a resilient backing member for said sheep-skin seated in said grooves for co-rotation with said head, and a bufng surface cloth covering said sheepskin, resilient backing member and head.

It is still a further object of the instant invention to provide an improved mounting for a buff-lng Wheel head comprising a `resilient pad adapted to be mounted on an operating face of said head, a sheep-skin backed against said pad for covering the same, and a buing surface cloth for wrapping the sheep-skin covered resilient pad.

Other and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, and the drawings accompanying the detailed description,

@n the drawings:

Figure l is a plan view of the operating face of a leuning Wheel head embodying the instant invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along a plane passing axially through a diameter of the bufling wheel embodying the instant invention;

Figure 34 is a plan view of the sheep-skin element employed the instant bufng wheel assembly; and

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line IV-lV of Figure 3.

As shown on the drawings:

As shown in Figure 2, the instant buing wheel indicated generally by the reference numeral f comprises a generally circular bung wheel head Il aresilient pad l2 mounted on a face Ila of the head I I,- a sheep-Skin cover i3 for the pad l2,

and a buing surface cloth I 4 covering the sheepskin I3 and resiliently supported by the pad I2.

As shown in Figure 1, the buing wheel head II is generally circular in shape, providing a generally disk-shaped wheel supporting structure presenting a generally circular flat operating face IIa on one side thereof. Actually, the wheel Ii comprises a central hub member I5 having a central threaded aperture It, adapted to threadedly engage a suitable drive shaft (not shown). The threaded aperture I6 extends from the back or non-operating face IIb inwardly to communicate with a dish-shaped portion I'I on the front or operating face I Ia of the head I I, so that a suitable lock nut or the like device (not shown) might be positioned within the dished portion I'I for coaction with the drive shaft (not shown) threadedly engaged in the aperture It.

rlhe hub member I5 also has a plurality of ciru cumferentially spaced apertures or vents IS, which extend the full axial dimension of the hub I, from the back face IIb to the front face IIa of the head II and which communicate with the central dished portion II via a generally annular re-cess Iii on the operating face IIa of the head Ii.

It `will be appreciated that ventilation and/or cooling of the central inside portion of the operating face IIa of the head II may be accor plished by the use of the apertures I8 in conjunction with air scoops or the like circulating devices, (not shown).

The hub preferably made of a suitably rigid Istructural material such a metal casting. As shown in Figures l and 2, the hub i5 is suitably fitted with a generally annular collar which fits snugly against a peripheral shoulder IEC on the back face Ib and an outwardly tapered extension or flange ld on the front or operating face of the hub I5. The annular collar 2G is itself outwardly tapered and it extends forwardly of the front face of the hub I5@ to denne a substantially flat annular front or operating face I ia for the head I I.

The collar 2S is made of a suitably strong supporting structure, although it preferably has a certain amount of resilience and may be made of hard or vulcanized rubber. Also, the collar Z contains a plurality of generally radially extending grooves EI, which extend outwardly so as to beconi increasingly more shallow as they approach the periphery of the collar 2t. Such grooves serve as a tread for receiving and corotatably mounting the porous or sponge rubber pad I2.

As is shown in Figure 2, the pad I2 may consist of one or a plurality of layers of resilient material such as porous or sponge (soft) rubber. The resilient pad I2 is cylindrical or disk-shaped, being substantially coextensive in area with the operating or front face IIa of the head II and being adapted to be mounted thereupon for corotation therewith. Actually, the resilient sponge rubber pad I2 is preferably slightly greater in area than the operating face IIa of the head II, so that the back face Ib (Figure 2) of the pad iE extends outwardly a slight distance beyond the periphery of the operating face IIa of the head II. In this manner, the bufng wheel I is assured of suitable resilience during operating at the peripheral portions thereof.

Next, the sheep-skin cover I3 is resiliently backed or mounted by means of the resilient pad I2. The sheep-skin or the like eece bearing material I3 overlies the front face Iia of the resilient pad I2 (and also the front face IIa of the head II) and extends over the peripheral portions of the pad I2 and the head I I and overlies partially the back face IIb of the head II.

As is best shown in Figures 3 and e, the sheepskin I3 comprises a hide-like or cloth-like backing member I3?) which presents on the outer face thereof a suitable fleece-like wool material 13a (which is shown in the instant drawings as extending freely outwardly, for the sake of simplicity, but which actually is packed down substantially so as to form a resilient layer). The resilient wool layer I3a extends across the full area of the front face Iza of the pad I2 and back over the peripheries of the pad I2 and the head Il, at which point a, suitable canvas or the like cloth sleeve 2I is sewed thereto, as by stitching 22. The sleeve 2! extends backwardly from the stitching 22 and is folded over at the rear edge thereof and stitched, as at 23. lThe folded over portion 2Ia of the sleeve 2i houses suitable tie cords, the ends 2li and 25 thereof extending freely from an opening in the folded over portion 2 Ia.

As will be readily understood by those skilled in the art, the sheep-skin I3 is wrapped about the resilient pad I2, so that the sleeve ZI is positioned adjacent the back face IIb of the head II, and the tie cord ends 2li and 25 are pulled tight and tied so as to secure the snug t of the sheep-skin I3 against the pad I2, which in turn snugly nts the grooves 2Go, in the annular collar 2o for co-rotation therewith.

Referring again to Figure 2, next, the bufng surface cloth I4 is wrapped about the outer face i3d of the sheep-skin I3 and drawn snugly thereagainst, so as to wrap the surface cloth ifi around the periphery of the assembly Iii and against the back face IIb of the head II. The bufng surface cloth I4 is then tucked underneath the sleeve extremity 2Ia, as at Ilia, so as to secure the cloth I I to the assembly Iii, as will be well understood by those skilled in the art.

The buing surface cloth may, of course, be made of any of a number of suitable buff-ing cloths such as cotton, flannel, or canvas cloths. In general, the particular cloth employed is preferably a non-fleece bearing cloth having a fabric working (outer) surface Illb.

It will thus be seen that the instant puffing wheel provides a number of distinct advantages over the prior art. For example, heat control and ventilation of the interior of the bufling wheel IS may be provided not only by virtue of the various apertures in the hub I5, but also by breathing of the resilient rubber pad I2 during expansion and contraction thereof in response to various forces applied to the working face of the wheel I0. In addition, the substantial flexibility in the performance of the instant buffing Wheel IB is provided by the presence of at least three sources of resilient support, nameiy, the annular collar 2i?, the resilient pad I2 and the fleece or wool portion of the sheep-skin I3. All of such resilient means are suitably covered by the smooth fabric-surfaced bufng cloth III, so that this cloth may cooperate suitably with the various rubbing compounds and, in addition, have the desired resilient backing for urging the same into operating position. Also, the layer of sponge rubber I2, which is of substantial axial thickness and which extends over the edges of the head I I, is uniquely adapted to provide a buing surface which conforms to the shape of,

for example, a concave-surfaced article to be buffed.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A buing wheel comprising a bung head adapted to threadedly engagea drive shaft for co-rotation therewith and having grooves cut in a face thereof, a sheep-skin overlying Said face and secured to said head, a porous rubber pad backing said sheep-skin seated in said grooves for co-rotation with said head, and a buing surface cloth covering said sheep-skin, resilient backing member and head.

2. A buing wheel comprising a bufng head adapted to threadedly engage a drive shaft for co-rotation therewith and having grooves cut in a, face thereof, a sheep-skin overlying said face and secured to said head, and a resilient backing member for said sheep-skin seated in said grooves for co-rotation with said head.

HARVEY E. LARsEN.

References Cited in the file 0f this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 Number Name Date 1,876,923 Hanson Sept. 13, 1932 2,227,588 Kemp Jan. 7. 1941 2,469,429 Beam et a1. May 10, 1949 2,527,762 Pratt Oct. 31, 1950 15 2,542,158 soderberg Feb. 2o, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 501,744 Great Britain Mar. 1. 1939 

